The extreme-sports showcase had found its footing as a major event in the region starting in 2003, but that relationship will end after this year's games in August, when the three-year contract with Anschutz Entertainment Group expires.

Four other cities beat out all Southern California proposals to hold the games, starting in 2014, event promoter ESPN announced Tuesday. Chicago, Detroit, Austin and Charlotte are the finalists, with the winning city receiving a three-year contract to be announced this summer.

"There is no question there is Southern California DNA in the X Games," said Scott Guglielmino, a senior vice president of programming for the X Games. "Southern California is the home of the board sports and the motocross sports. There will always be Southern California DNA in the X Games, wherever they are held."

Pasadena and Long Beach were two of the 13 cities to submit proposals to ESPN to host the games. Rose Bowl officials looked at what ESPN was seeking, but General Manager Darryl Dunn said the facility, which will host its 100th Rose Bowl game in January, did not submit a bid.

"Next year we anticipate having to do a lot of work and we could not hold an event like that," Dunn said. "We looked at it. We have a lot of construction coming up, and we could not commit at this point. Maybe down the road."

ESPN began a six-city global X Games tour this year, with the final stop from Aug. 1-4 in Los Angeles.

The split between ESPN and AEG was amicable and Guglielmino said the games could eventually return to Southern California.

"We had a great experience in Los Angeles," Guglielmino said. "AEG showed they had a passion for the X Games. They had great vision for transforming downtown Los Angeles and they were a great role in helping us. We feel it is the right time for us to leave."

The decision came right when ESPN officials expanded the X Games into six worldwide events. They recently had a competition in Foz do Iguaqu, Brazil, and will head to Barcelona for its fourth event from May 16-19.

The news was disappointing to Southern California fans of skateboarding, BMX and motocross, as well as local hotels and other businesses that benefited from the tourism revenue.

"I feel like my favorite cousin is moving away," said Devon Steigerwald of Venice Beach, a former action sports athlete who has attended five Summer X Games in Los Angeles. "I'm sad to see them go. It's been part of the city's tradition."

The X Games bring in about $8 million a year in tourism revenue, according to the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board. Still, the city will eventually find something to replace the loss, said Robert Kleinhenz, chief economist with Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

"There's a lot going on here so there will probably be something that will fill that void," Kleinhenz said. "It may take several years to replace, but eventually Los Angeles will be occupied with something else. The question is, 'Will it be able to replace it with the same amount of activity?' I just don't have that answer."

He added that it's particularly surprising the event would leave, given there are some 21 million people in the Southern California area who could attend the games.

"It's hard to find a city with the same concentration of people to attend the X Games," he said. "That's the first thing that struck me when hearing the news."

According to a 2011 economic impact study conducted by Micronomics, the majority of X Games attendance was by Angelenos, with roughly 25 percent of X Game attendance from outside a 50-mile radius.

Last year, events in the four-day summer action-sports festival were held at Staples Center, the Nokia Theater and around the L.A. Live complex. In past years, events have been held around Southern California, including at the Coliseum, Home Depot Center, Long Beach Marine Stadium and Huntington Beach pier.

The X Games started in 1995 in Rhode Island and in just two years became so popular that it expanded to both summer and winter events.

While both seasons of the games have been hosted in several cities from Big Bear to Mount Snow, Vt. and San Diego to Philadelphia, both the Winter and Summer X Games eventually found their homes in the early 2000s in Aspen and Los Angeles respectively.

ESPN is also negotiating with cities for the Winter X Games, which have been in Aspen, Colo., since 2002. That contract expires after the 2014 games.

"I've soaked it all up and been to every single one of them in L.A.," said fan Tony Hibbitts, who treks more than 100 miles with his family from Palm Desert to attend the Summer X Games in Los Angeles.

"When Jake Brown fell out of the sky. When Anthony Napolitan was first to do a double front flip on a BMX bike on a megaramp. I've seen Travis Pastrana win gold medals at the Staples Center. There's been some great memories and historic moments.

"I'm definitely going to miss it. It's one of the events I look forward to every summer," Hibbitts said. "It's what I do. Ride to live, live to ride - and that's on skateboards and dirt bikes. It's what everyone in Southern California does, so this is sad news for all of us."